02 >> "What if I plan to get a secular job and use my position to develop a ministry?

This is a worthy goal and high calling. The marketplace is in desperate need of Christians who are willing to be ambassadors for Christ. So if this is what God is calling you to, "Go for it!" and don't be dissuaded. This is a task worthy of investing your life.

Now, having said that, let me temper my optimism with a little wisdom. Our hearts are "deep waters" and when it comes to dating and careers "master can be quite tricksy" to quote Gollum in Lord of the Rings. Always be cautious about hidden motivations in these two areas.

Graduating from college is not without its anxieties. Simple questions like "What will I eat?" can dash dreams and ambitions. But there is also the stress of people's expectations and the desires others have for your life: to pursue a career, get another degree, go into ministry, or to take that attractive counter job at McDonalds. If, like most people, you have a desire to make everyone happy, a good solution will almost always involve doing everything, and making one career trajectory satisfy everyone. All that to say, people will often pursue a career, with a goal of ministry, in an attempt to satisfy all parties or because they can't decide, or won't, between ministry and a secular job.

If God has called you into the mission field, then you must go. Let the chips fall where they may as it regards people's expectations, or, as Winston Churchill put it: "It has been said that leaders must always keep their ear to the ground. All I can say is that the nation will find it very hard to look up to leaders who are found in that somewhat ungainly posture." You cannot live to please everybody.

However, if God is clearly directing you to a career in a secular field, then you must, likewise, pursue that no matter who you may be letting down, including Campus Crusade staff. We are to fear God and not man.

If God is calling you to a vocation other than ministry, you should be genuinely excited about that field of study, and that job. If the only personal motivation for taking the job is the opportunity to do ministry, then it's doubtful that God has called you to that employment. God wants you to have a job you can sink your heart into. As archbishop William Temple once said:

"To make the choice of career or profession on selfish grounds, without a true sense of calling, is probably the greatest single sin any young person can commit, for it is the deliberate withdrawal from allegiance to God of the greatest part of time and strength."

Last, don't overestimate the amount of time you will have for ministry in a secular job. Your employer is not paying you to evangelize on the job (though wouldn't that be nice), but rather to make a profit for the company. You must be committed to working hard for your employer, as unto Christ, and workweeks are seldom 40 hours. Bottom line: don't expect to be able to do the work of a missionary while holding down another full-time job. If your heart is most passionate about ministry then do it vocationally, don't try to moonlight at a second job, everyone gets less of you than they deserve.

 

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